This one is more understandable than most. She'd recently had abdominal surgery, so she assumed the movement and cramping was a side effect of that, and had been told that she could never have children. She didn't gain much weight or have any other symptoms.

gaslight:I'm no expert but wouldn't skipping periods for nine months be a clue?

I'm not an expert either, but obesity does wreak havoc upon nearly every system in the body as well as the endocrine system to which the reproductive organs belong. Obesity (and extreme thinness) raise hell with regularity of menstruation. At 24 years of marriage, unless she was an Appalachian bride, she's probably in her 40s and believing kids not being possible, figured no periods - already starting the change.

And yes, you have to be a fat ass to not notice a full term 10 pound baby. Not to mention probably being just a wee bit less than brilliant. And yet she managed to reproduce. While my very intelligent, extremely thoughtful, wonderful friend can't have any. Life is just not fair.

give me doughnuts:How fat are you when you don't realize that you are carrying a full-term 10 pound baby?

My cousin practically dropped a 12 pounder in the hospital waiting room and just 2 months before she had no idea she was pregnant. She was in the best physical health of her life, looked great, was training to be a cop and playing for a local softball team. Take into account that not only was she athletic but is 5'10 and there are plenty of places for a babby to hide in that abdomen. Growing up together I knew already that she had abnormal periods and would sometimes go months without having one, which is one of the reasons she didn't realize. She never got sick, no weird cravings, and that m-effer nestled himself high up and towards her back so she didn't even show. It wasn't until she went in for a physical concerning the police training that they detected her pregnancy through a urine test. She went to her gynecologist a couple of days later, thinking she was either in the first or early in the second trimester and was shocked to learn she was 7 months into it.

2 years later when she had her second she was practically bed ridden for 3 months she was barfing that much, she ballooned up like a whale and according to her ex was eating fried chicken daily. BTW, she hates fried chicken and stopped eating it as soon as kid 2 dropped.

danno_to_infinity:I'm not an expert either, but obesity does wreak havoc upon nearly every system in the body as well as the endocrine system to which the reproductive organs belong. Obesity (and extreme thinness) raise hell with regularity of menstruation. At 24 years of marriage, unless she was an Appalachian bride, she's probably in her 40s and believing kids not being possible, figured no periods - already starting the change.

If Mom is the one sitting down in that picture she doesn't look to be in the "so fat she stopped having periods" category. She more likely thought she was pari-menopausal if not in the full blown stages. And that's assuming she was accustomed to consistent periods.

I met a German woman who did that. She'd had three kids already, who were all grown and had kids of their own, and she was in her forties. She went on a walk, fainted, was taken to the hospital, and there she was with a new baby girl. She had some kind of nerve damage and walked with a limp, and presumably that, and the fact she had stopped having babies decades before, made her not realize she was pregnant. And she wasn't fat, either, just your regular solidly built Hausfrau.

vudukungfu:give me doughnuts: How fat are you when you don't realize that you are carrying a full-term 10 pound baby?

criminally obese.

Actually a lot of the women who are unaware that they're pregnant are just the opposite. They're very, very fit--as in, they run marathons and stuff. They have such a low body fat percentage that their periods are irregular anyway and don't think anything of missing a few. They don't add much pregnancy weight. And in many cases they've been led to believe that they *can't* get pregnant.

oldfarthenry:irion47: oldfarthenry: How the hell do these women NOT know they're pregnant?

`Gee, this poo I feel coming on is trying to kick its way down my colon!'*PHERP- Waah-Waah-Waah*`- the f**k?'

I actually knew a woman like that. She left work early because of really bad gas, she got home and plopped out a baby.

So the poor kid came into this world in a cloud of fart? Little bugger doesn't stand a chance.

Many children come into the world in this fashion anyway... only the woman is in stirrups. Unfortunately, during birth- it's pretty much impossible to control your bodily functions when you're pushing that hard.

geekbikerskum:Actually a lot of the women who are unaware that they're pregnant are just the opposite. They're very, very fit--as in, they run marathons and stuff. They have such a low body fat percentage that their periods are irregular anyway and don't think anything of missing a few. They don't add much pregnancy weight. And in many cases they've been led to believe that they *can't* get pregnant.

On I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant there was one episode (look, it's on when I get to the gym, ok?) where this totally cute, petite girl who was a size 4 had a surprise baby on her neighbor's lawn after suffering what she initially thought was a heart attack. Apparently since she was 16 she had heart issues and was on medication for it, to include birth control, because according to her doctors she'd be at an extremely high risk to have a baby. She thinks when she took an antibiotic months back that it counteracted her pill, forgot to use a condom, and had a surprise babby 9 months later. According to her she was even wearing a bikini to the pool and even lost something like 5 lbs the summer she was pregnant.

shazbotuh:oldfarthenry: irion47: oldfarthenry: How the hell do these women NOT know they're pregnant?

`Gee, this poo I feel coming on is trying to kick its way down my colon!'*PHERP- Waah-Waah-Waah*`- the f**k?'

I actually knew a woman like that. She left work early because of really bad gas, she got home and plopped out a baby.

So the poor kid came into this world in a cloud of fart? Little bugger doesn't stand a chance.

Many children come into the world in this fashion anyway... only the woman is in stirrups. Unfortunately, during birth- it's pretty much impossible to control your bodily functions when you're pushing that hard.

our daughter got laughed into the world.

wife's bearing down, daughter is crowning gets out to about nose level, and all of a sudden she cracks wind like thunder. daughter's eyes fly open and look wildly around crinkling her forehead up. i exclaimed 'holy crap you scared her!' and my wife just starts belly laughing(frankly we all did) and *squirt* out flies my daughter. who admittedly did not look all that thrilled to have been born into the company of a bunch of giggling lunatics.

that was five almost six years ago now. she walked up to me the other day and said 'daddy-o, pull my finger.'

gaslight:I'm no expert but wouldn't skipping periods for nine months be a clue?

Some women still have what they assume is their period while pregnant.There are also women like me that can go months without any period and it has nothing to do with pregnancy. My personal record was nine months.

God Is My Co-Pirate:This one is more understandable than most. She'd recently had abdominal surgery, so she assumed the movement and cramping was a side effect of that, and had been told that she could never have children. She didn't gain much weight or have any other symptoms.

I call at least a LITTLE bit of BS on this one. I happen to know PERSONALLY that unless she thought she was going through The Change, the hormones, mood swings, hunger, thirst, random insomnia and nausea spells, and cravings should have alerted her that something was up. I'm guessing she had zero self awareness. There's no way NOT to know at least something is up. And the recently had abdominal surgery? When, BEFORE 9 months ago? If in the middle of her pregnancy she had said surgery, they would have known through blood testing and such, and she should have had symptoms prior.

That being said, congrats to her and the new family, but I have ZERO IDEA how a woman can NOT know she's pregnant.